Is the Mac Pro overpriced compared to a PC?

Apple's Mac Pro is manufactured in the US at a starting price of $ 6,000. For that price you get a pretty sweet machine, but how close could you get to the performance of the Mac Pro if you tried to create a Windows version yourself?

You could build a PC with similar hardware for less

No surprise: our calculations allow you to do the job for a lot less, though it still costs you. We were unable to make a copy of the Mac Pro, but we did get some benefits that the base Mac Pro does not offer. We also had to do without some features.

In this article, we focus on the base model, as it is the only one whose price is currently known. We have no idea what the top models will cost, so there is nothing to compare in terms of price. If you want to see a nice example of a killer Windows computer that can compete with the best Mac Pro, read this video from Linus Tech Tips.

One last note before we look at our base model. We did not build this machine ourselves. So this is not a construction manual. It is more of a thought experiment. Enough of the preamble ̵

1; Dive in.

The CPU and motherboard

The Asus WS C422 Sage / 10G motherboard.

Apple does not specify which Xeon W The CPU is used in the base model of the Mac Pro, but there are eight cores, 16 threads and a turbo boost of 4 GHz known. This is similar to the Xeon W-3223, although the cache on the Mac Pro CPU is slightly larger. The W-3223 has an MSRP of $ 749 but is not available on major websites such as Newegg or Amazon.

So we swapped it for something that fits its specifications, the Xeon W-2145. This is a Skylake part from the end of 2017. It has eight cores, 16 threads, but a higher boost at 4.5 GHz. Nevertheless, it has the advantage that it is – albeit hardly – available as an OEM part. That means it comes without a cooler and the warranty is shorter. This is not very good for an actual purchase, but it is sufficient for a thought experiment.

Here we encounter difficulty two: Apple's Mac Pro motherboard is a nice custom build with enough capacity for eight PCIe lanes, two 3 Thunderbolt ports on the back, and two 10G LAN ports.

To get closer, we rely on the Asus WS C422 Sage / 10G. This is a single-CPU motherboard with seven full-size PCIe slots, two dual 10G LAN ports, and one M.2 slot.

Based on the best prices we can find, we spent $ 1,290 on the CPU at B & H Photo. At Amazon we find lower prices, but these are offered by third parties without Amazon fulfillment. This means that if you have problems with the seller's customer service policy, you will need to dispense with Amazon. In our opinion, it is better to use a known amount when buying online.